Jersey Heritage had to employ the help of Fetch and Karrie crane hire when it wanted to install two new sofas in the Radio Tower at Corbière recently.
Built during the Occupation by the Germans, the tower has been restored to provide self-catering accommodation over six floors as part of Heritage’s historic lets initiative – and the lounge is on the fifth floor.
The design of the tower meant the sofas could not be brought up from the inside, Michael Bee, Jersey Heritage commercial operations manager, explained.
He added that advance bookings for the organisation’s historic-property lets were at an ‘all-time high’ and that the two sofas were installed to improve the guest experience for the local and tourist market.
‘Due to the internal layout of the building, the sofas had to be hoisted externally by Fetch and Karrie crane hire using their new £300,000 38-metre Hiab 858 crane,’ he said. ‘The end result was well worth the effort and our visitors will be able to enjoy arguably the best view in Jersey from the comfort of these new sofas.’
Mr Bee said the ‘bespoke building’ called for ‘bespoke solutions’ and provided unique challenges when trying to move the sofas.
‘They [Fetch and Karrie] had several factors to consider when arranging this job, the most important being the wind speed balanced against the weight of the sofas.
‘The Hiab can operate at a maximum wind speed of 26mph and we had to wait several weeks for the wind speed to drop to a level that was safe enough for Fetch and Karrie to operate, and allow our own maintenance team to work on the exterior access platform safely to bring the sofas in.’
Mr Bee said that Jersey Heritage invested in its let properties to ensure guest expectations were continually exceeded.
He added: ‘We are extremely thankful for the local support our Heritage lets have received over the past 12 months.
‘Moving forward into 2021 that local support has continued and our future bookings for this point in the year are at an all-time high.’
